Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Question for JB: 180 grain Winchester Powerpoints?

John,

I am interested to know how 180 grain Winchester Powerpoints perform on elk and moose sized game? I assume they would be an excellent bullet for deer sized game.

I was at the range working up a load for my new 30-06 and decided to try shooting some of the cheap Winchester 180 grain Powerpoint loads that I had purchased at Wal-Mart. I bought them to use as fouling loads, so I didn't have to waste expensive bullets fouling a newly cleaned barrel.

Much to my embarrassment, the first group with the PP's shot into .350". The next two groups were less than .500".

I sure am glad I spent all of that time checking the runout on my handloads. They grouped into .900".

Thanks,
Chet

I've never shot anything bigger than deer with them, but they'd sure work if started at .30-06 velocities and put in the right place. That said, there's no real need for half-inch accuracy for most elk and moose hunting.

I made one of my most interesting deer kills with a 180 PP from a Winchester High Wall reproduction in .30-40 Krag. Shot a doe at about 50 yards throught lungs, and she went on the death run, only to run smack into a big cottonwood and break her neck.

Chetaf,
I can report that the teenager in our elk camp has killed four cows with a 150gr. PP from his .270Win.. The closest was 60 yards and the furthest 285. All were dead on their feet and only needed the drop in blood pressure to be recognized by the brain.

I can only surmise that the 180gr version in the 30-06 would due just fine.

The Winchester .308" 180-grain PowerPoint is a superb elk bullet in the .30-'06. Both expansion and penetration are excellent. The ain't glamorous, but they sure as heck get the job done.

As an aside, my very favourite bullet in the .338-'06 is the Winchester 200-grain PowerPoint. Elk, bear and mooses simply get swatted over by that GREAT bullet.

Enjoy your PowerPoints, my friend; go forth and KILL!

Steve

I have not used them myself,but the first bull elk I ever saw killed was with a 30/06 and the 150 gr PP at about 350 yards...I never forgot that and can stll see his knees buckle at impact and he just collapsed in the sage.

I have been told the 270 gr PP in 375H&H was held in high regard by many when it was around.I have been told the jackets were actually bronze and pretty tough...I examined one recovered from a browm bear and it was pretty as a picture.

You may be quite surprised with the accuracy you get from the PP.

I load 150 gr, PP's for my daughter's Vanguard Compact .308 Win. I run them a grain or two under max with IMR-3031. The gun is a legitimate 1/4 MOA (not a typo) shooter, 3 shots at 100 yards.

INCREDIBLE !!

The 150's are pure death on whitetails.

Are we speaking of the round nose or spitzer?

I had such good accuracy with the factory round nose in .30'06 that I bought several 100 from Midway for reloading. They have proven themselves in the accuracy department also and are sudden death on deer. I don't believe they can be purchased anymore and I'm down to my last 100.

I bought a couple hundred Win. Power Points (.30 caliber, 180 grain) bulk in a plastic freezer bag several years ago from one of my friends in the gun club.

They really seem to shoot more accurately than I expected, from .5 to 1 MOA, and the only cow elk I have ever taken with one was an instant kill at 80 yds. She didn't take a step. I was planning just to use them as range fodder, to get the right load, and then switch back to Nosler Partitions for the hunt.

I think they are a better bullet than expected, at a very good price.

I don't post here much as I don't feel I've got much to contribute. I'll let you all be the judge here, but the above pictures are of a 180 grain PP out of factory Winchester ammo found in the off side hide of a bull elk here in CO. Launched out of a .300WM and the range was 333 yards as defined by rangefinder and sat. measurements. Made a mess of lungs, heart, and off side shoulder. Personally, I can't really complain at all about its performance.




Sorry about the blood in the last pic. Had him gutted and rolled out of the soup before I thought about taking good field photo's. Only got the first pic before we gutted him.

Great post Kelk. Great info regarding this bullet and its performance on an elk. It's funny though after you shoot one (atleast for me) its time to get serious and sometimes taking pictures is the last thing you think about . I'm thinking, "ok it's time to get dirty now and how the hell am I going to get this SOB out of here??"

The most under rated bullet going.I've only ever recovered one from a moose.All mostly pass throughs.Should add I used a 150gr from a 300 Win.

Bsa,

Yes, I tend to agree. Once the game drops it seems we are on the move to get it taken care of so alot of our pics are after the fact. The bull I shot the year previous took us 6.5 hours to move back to the truck a half mile away. Lots of up and down on that pack.

7STW,

Until I hit my 20's it seemed that thanks to my dad I lived in a time warp. Short of a 10 year stretch that he reloaded with a friend, he only ever used Core Lokt's, Winchester PP's, and Winchester Silver Tips for deer and elk here in CO. For a time he loaded up all kinds of stuff until we moved and he was no longer able to share reloading equipment with his hunting partner. So until I hit my 20's and started to dive into the wider world of premium bullets that's all he used. I've got all my own reloading equipment now and have some 180 gr. partitions to load for the .300WM. Yet, I look at that pic and remember the hunt and sometimes ask myself if I really need to.

Where can you get 338 200 grain PP? Win site does not list them.

I agree.The PP is the only C&C bullet that I've never seen lose its core.It is IMO really close to the Partition in performance, other than it does expand a bit wider.Back in the day my buddies and I all ran PP's and we stacked stuff up.

I have loaded them quite a bit in both 30-06 and 308. They may come in little plastic bags, but lay moose, caribou and bear out in a hurry.

Have loaded them in the 300 Mags as well, after contacting Winchester and being told they work fine to 3000 fps, but have not used them on game yet.

They shoot very well, giving better accuracy then CoreLokts.

Ted

Ed,

The last I saw were at the Olde Country Scrounger. Dangerous Dave had a scad of them.

I bought my supply back in the early 1980s. The bullet shot like a demon in my .338-06 and killed deer, bear and elk better than any bullet I'd ever seen. So I bought 2,000.

I just checked my hidey-hole and I have a little over 700 left.

Oh yeah, there's a couple boxes of .338 250-grain Silvertips, too.

Anyway, the performance of the Winchester .338 200-grain PowerPoint in the .338-'06 is beyond compare. The bullet always expands back to the cannelure and no more.

Recovered expanded bullets typically open to .800" or more and average 170-grains (85% weight retention).

Here are two bullets I pulled from critters. The bullet on the left killed a hell of a big black bear squared well over seven-feet and the carcass weighe 378-pounds ... bastard growled at me

The right bullet went lengthwise through a 6X6 bull elk. He was peeking at me through a jackpine and his horns were way over the top ... guess the silly schit thought he was hidden and I couldn't see him.

Anyway, I busted him just under the chin; the bullet coursed the full neck, blew the aorta to smithereens, de-saced the heart, split the liver in two and ended up �-inch to the left of his bunghole. When I rolled him over and shoved my filet knife up hit twitchel, I scraped the bullet. Penetration equals the FULL LENGTH of a big 6X6 bull elk.

That is dandy performance out of a "little tiny" round like the wimpy .338-'06.

Oh, the 6X6 elk and the seven-foot beat. They were both DOA ... had to track them ... three-feet straight down.

Hey, did you miss the "Steveisms" in bullet performance and how critters die????

Pax,

Steve

Good stuff Steve. I am so happy to see you back at the Campfire.

180 GR PP From a moose neck.Shot distance 70yds.300 Winchester

DZ,
I guess I did miss "the 'Steveisms' in bullet performance and how critters die". Where can I find them? Thanks for the info on the 338 PP. I started using PPs in 1965 when I bought my first BG rifle a M70 in 270.

I have a custom rem 700 in 30/06 and the most accurate 180g bullet is the 180g Win power point...kinda feels like I am going to church wearing a three piece suit with dirty tennis shoes...what ever works for ya!